User station (STA) and access point (AP) and method for random access contention using cascaded trigger frames

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a user station (STA), access point (AP), and method for random access contention in a wireless network are generally described herein. The STA may receive, from the AP, a beacon frame for a beacon interval. The STA may further receive a first random access Trigger Frame (TF) that indicates a first allocation of channel resources for random access contention by STAs during a first uplink transmission period of the beacon interval. The beacon frame may include a transmission timing for the first random access TF and a first TF cascade type for the first random access TF. The first TF cascade type may indicate whether a next TF is a random access TF or a scheduled access TF.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/747,210, filed Jun. 23, 2015, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,706,577,which claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/146,671, filed Apr. 13, 2015, each of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate towireless local area networks (WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks includingnetworks operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family ofstandards, such as the IEEE 802.11ac standard or the IEEE 802.11ax studygroup (SG) (named DensiFi). Some embodiments relate to high-efficiency(HE) wireless or high-efficiency WLAN or Wi-Fi (HEW) communications.Some embodiments relate to multi-user (MU) multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) communications and orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques. Some embodimentsrelate to random access contention techniques.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications has been evolving toward ever increasing datarates (e.g., from IEEE 802.11a/g to IEEE 802.11n to IEEE 802.11ac). Inhigh-density deployment situations, overall system efficiency may becomemore important than higher data rates. For example, in high-densityhotspot and cellular offloading scenarios, many devices competing forthe wireless medium may have low in moderate data rate requirements(with respect to the very high data rates of IEEE 802.11ac). Arecently-formed study group for Wi-Fi evolution referred to as the IEEE802.11 High Efficiency WLAN (HEW) study group (SG) (i.e., IEEE 802.11ax)is addressing these high-density deployment scenarios.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a user station (STA) and an access point (AP) inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of a method of random access contentionin accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a beacon frame in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a random access scenario in accordancewith some embodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of another method of random accesscontention in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, the network 100 may be a HighEfficiency Wireless Local Area Network (HEW) network. In someembodiments, the network 100 may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)or a Wi-Fi network. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as thenetwork 100 may include a combination of such networks. That is, thenetwork 100 may support HEW devices in some cases, non HEW devices insome cases, and a combination of HEW devices and non HEW devices in somecases. Accordingly, it is understood that although techniques describedherein may refer to either a non HEW device or to an HEW device, suchtechniques may be applicable to both non HEW devices and HEW devices insome cases.

The network 100 may include a master station (STA) 102, a plurality ofuser stations (STAs) 103 and a plurality of HEW stations 104 (HEWdevices). The master station 102 may be arranged to communicate with theSTAs 103, HEW stations 104 and the legacy stations 106 in accordancewith one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards. In accordance with someHEW embodiments, an access point may operate as the master station 102and may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during acontention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for an HEWcontrol period (i.e., a transmission opportunity (TXOP)). The masterstation 102 may, for example, transmit a master-sync or controltransmission at the beginning of the HEW control period to indicate,among other things, which HEW stations 104 are scheduled forcommunication during the HEW control period. During the HEW controlperiod, the scheduled HEW stations 104 may communicate with the masterstation 102 in accordance with a non-contention based multiple accesstechnique. This is unlike conventional Wi-Fi communications in whichdevices communicate in accordance with a contention-based communicationtechnique, rather than a non-contention based multiple access technique.During the HEW control period, the master station 102 may communicatewith HEW stations 104 using one or more HEW frames. During the HEWcontrol period, legacy stations 106 may refrain from communicating. Insome embodiments, the master-sync transmission may be referred to as acontrol and schedule transmission.

In some embodiments, the STA 103 may receive, from the AP 102, a beaconframe for a beacon interval. The STA 103 may further receive a firstrandom access Trigger Frame (TF) that indicates a first allocation ofchannel resources for random access contention by STAs 103 during afirst uplink transmission period of the beacon interval. Theseembodiments will be described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HEWcontrol period may be a scheduled orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) technique, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-divisionmultiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access(FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique maybe a space-division multiple access (SDMA) technique including amulti-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (SDMA) (MU-MIMO)technique. These multiple-access techniques used during the HEW controlperiod may be configured for uplink or downlink data communications.

The master station 102 may also communicate with STAs 103 and/or otherlegacy stations in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communicationtechniques. In some embodiments, the master station 102 may also beconfigurable to communicate with the HEW stations 104 outside the HEWcontrol period in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communicationtechniques, although this is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, the HEW communications during the control periodmay be configurable to use one of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHZ contiguousbandwidths or an 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In someembodiments, a 320 MHz channel width may be used. In some embodiments,subchannel bandwidths less than 20 MHz may also be used. In theseembodiments, each channel or subchannel of an HEW communication may beconfigured for transmitting a number of spatial streams.

In accordance with embodiments, a master station 102 and/or HEW stations104 may generate an HEW packet in accordance with a short preambleformat or a long preamble format. The HEW packet may comprise a legacysignal field (L-SIG) followed by one or more high-efficiency (HE) signalfields (HE-SIG) and an HE long-training field (HE-LTF). For the shortpreamble format, the fields may be configured for shorter-delay spreadchannels. For the long preamble format, the fields may be configured forlonger-delay spread channels. These embodiments are described in moredetail below. It should be noted that the terms “HEW” and “HE” may beused interchangeably and both terms may refer to high-efficiencyWireless Local Area Network operation and/or high-efficiency) Wi-Fioperation.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user station (ST) and an access point (AP) inaccordance with some embodiments. It should be noted that in someembodiments, the AP 102 may be a stationary non-mobile device. The STA200 may be suitable for use as an STA 103 as depicted in FIG. 1, whilethe AP 250 may be suitable for use as an AP 102 as depicted in FIG. 1.In addition, the STA 200 may also be suitable for use as an HEW device104 as shown in FIG. 1, such as an HEW station.

The STA 200 may include physical layer circuitry 202 and a transceiver205, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception ofsignals to and from the AP 250, other APs, other STAs or other devicesusing one or more antennas 201. As an example, the physical layercircuitry 202 may perform various encoding and decoding functions thatmay include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decodingof received signals. As another example, the transceiver 205 may performvarious transmission and reception functions such as conversion ofsignals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 202 and the transceiver 205may be separate components or may be part of a combined component. Inaddition, some of the described functionality related to transmissionand reception of signals may be performed by a combination that mayinclude one, any or all of the physical layer circuitry 202, thetransceiver 205, and other components or layers.

The AP 250 may include physical layer circuitry 252 and a transceiver255, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception fortransmission and reception of signals to and from the STA 200, otherAPs, other STAs or other devices using one or more antennas 251. Thephysical layer circuitry 252 and the transceiver 255 may perform variousfunctions similar to those described regarding the STA 200 previously.Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 252 and the transceiver 255may be separate components or may be part of a combined component. Inaddition, some of the described functionality related to transmissionand reception of signals may be performed by a combination that mayinclude one, any or all of the physical layer circuitry 252, thetransceiver 255, and other components or layers.

The STA 200 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry204 for controlling access to the wireless medium, while the AP 250 mayalso include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 254 forcontrolling access to the wireless medium. The STA 200 may also includeprocessing circuitry 206 and memory 208 arranged to perform theoperations described herein. The AP 250 may also include processingcircuitry 256 and memory 258 arranged to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The AP 250 may also include one or more interfaces260, which may enable communication with other components, includingother APs 102 (FIG. 1). In addition, the interfaces 260 may enablecommunication with other components that may not be shown in FIG. 1,including components external to the network 100. The interfaces 260 maybe wired or wireless or a combination thereof.

The antennas 201, 251 may comprise one or more directional oromnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas,monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas orother types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In somemultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 201, 251may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity andthe different channel characteristics that may result.

In some embodiments, the STA 200 or the AP 250 may be a mobile deviceand may be a portable wireless communication device, such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wirelesscommunication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, asmartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, adigital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such asa medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor,etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit informationwirelessly. In some embodiments, the STA 200 or AP 250 may be configuredto operate in accordance with 802.11 standards, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect. While devices or otherdevices in some embodiments may be configured to operate according toother protocols or standards, including other IEEE standards, ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) standards or other standards. Insome embodiments, the STA 200, AP 250 or other device may include one ormore of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multipleantennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, andother mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen includinga touch screen.

Although the STA 200 and the AP 250 are each illustrated as havingseveral separate functional elements, one or more of the functionalelements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may beread and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A computer-readable storage device may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments mayinclude one or more processors and may be configured with instructionsstored on a computer-readable storage device.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used by theSTA 200 and/or AP 250 may include various components of the STA 200and/or AP 250 as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, techniques and operationsdescribed herein that refer to the STA 200 (or 103 or 104) may beapplicable to an apparatus for an STA. In addition, techniques andoperations described herein that refer to the AP 250 (or 102) may beapplicable to an apparatus for an AP.

In some embodiments, the STA 200 may be configured as an HEW device 104(FIG. 1), and may communicate using OFDM communication signals over amulticarrier communication channel. Accordingly, in some cases the STA200 may be configured to receive signals in accordance with specificcommunication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including IEEE 802.11—2012,802.11n—2009 and/or 802.11ac—2013 standards and/or proposedspecifications for WLANs including proposed HEW standards, although thescope of the invention is not limited in this respect as they may alsobe suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance withother techniques and standards. In some other embodiments, the STA 200configured as an HEW device 104 may be configured to receive signalsthat were transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques suchas spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code divisionmultiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code divisionmultiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation,and/or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide two preamble formats for HighEfficiency (HE) Wireless LAN standards specification that is underdevelopment in the IEEE Task Group 11ax (TGax).

In accordance with embodiments, the STA 103 may receive, from the AP102, a beacon frame for a beacon interval. The STA 103 may furtherreceive a first random access Trigger Frame (TF) that indicates a firstallocation of channel resources for random access contention by STAs 103during a first uplink transmission period of the beacon interval. Thebeacon frame may include a transmission timing for the first randomaccess TF and a first TF cascade type for the first random access TF.The first TF cascade type may indicate whether a next TF is a randomaccess TF or a scheduled access TF. These embodiments will be describedin more detail below.

In some embodiments, the channel resources may be used for downlinktransmission by the AP 102 and for uplink transmissions by the STAs 103.That is, a time-division duplex (TDD) format may be used. In some cases,the channel resources may include multiple channels, such as the 20 MHzchannels previously described. The channels may include multiplesub-channels or may be divided into multiple sub-channels for the uplinktransmissions to accommodate multiple access for multiple STAs 103. Thedownlink transmissions may or may not utilize the same format.

In some embodiments, the downlink sub-channels may comprise apredetermined bandwidth. As a non-limiting example, the sub-channels mayeach span 2.03125 MHz, the channel may span 20 MHz, and the channel mayinclude eight or nine sub-channels. Although reference may be made to asub-channel of 2.03125 MHz for illustrative purposes, embodiments arenot limited to this example value, and any suitable frequency span forthe sub-channels may be used. In some embodiments, the frequency spanfor the sub-channel may be based on a value included in an 802.11standard (such as 802.11ax), a 3GPP standard or other standard.

In some embodiments, the sub-channels may comprise multiplesub-carriers. Although not limited as such, the sub-carriers may be usedfor transmission and/or reception of OFDM or OFDMA signals. As anexample, each sub-channel may include a group of contiguous sub-carriersspaced apart by a pre-determined sub-carrier spacing. As anotherexample, each sub-channel may include a group of non-contiguoussub-carriers. That is, the channel may be divided into a set ofcontiguous sub-carriers spaced apart by the pre-determined sub-carrierspacing, and each sub-channel may include a distributed or interleavedsubset of those sub-carriers. The sub-carrier spacing may take a valuesuch as 78.125 kHz, 312.5 kHz or 15 kHz, although these example valuesare not limiting. Other suitable values that may or may not be part ofan 802.11 or 3GPP standard or other standard may also be used in somecases. As an example, for a 78.125 kHz sub-carrier spacing, asub-channel may comprise 26 contiguous sub-carriers or a bandwidth of2.03125 MHz.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of a method of random access contentionin accordance with some embodiments. It is important to note thatembodiments of the method 300 may include additional or even feweroperations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in FIG. 3.In addition, embodiments of the method 300 are not necessarily limitedto the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 3. In describing themethod 300, reference may be made to FIGS. 1-2 and 4-6, although it isunderstood that the method 300 may be practiced with any other suitablesystems, interfaces and components.

In addition, while the method 300 and other methods described herein mayrefer to STAs 103 and APs 102 operating in accordance with 802.11 orother standards, embodiments of those methods are not limited to justthose devices and may also be practiced on other mobile devices, such asan HEW STA, an HEW AP, an Evolved Node-B (eNB) or User Equipment (UE).In some embodiments, the STA 103 described in the method 300 may be anHEW STA 103 while the AP 102 may be an HEW AP 102. The method 300 andother methods described herein may also be practiced by wireless devicesconfigured to operate in other suitable types of wireless communicationsystems, including systems configured to operate according to variousThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)standards. The method 300 may also refer to an apparatus for an STA 103and/or AP 102 or other device described above.

At operation 305 of the method 300, the STA 103 may receive, from the AP102, a beacon frame for a beacon interval. In some embodiments, thebeacon frame may indicate a sequence of random access trigger frames(TFs) and scheduled access TFs to be transmitted by the AP 102 duringthe beacon interval. The TFs may indicate timings for one or more uplinktransmission periods of the beacon interval, which may be for randomaccess, scheduled access or other communication. The beacon interval mayalso be referred to as a beacon window or beacon period.

In some embodiments, the beacon frame may include one or more randomaccess TFs and one or more scheduled access TFs. As an example, multiplerandom access TFs may be cascaded (adjacent in a sequence of TFsscheduled for transmission by the AP 102). As another example, ascheduled access TF may be transmitted in between a first random accessTF and a second random access TF in such a sequence.

In some embodiments, the beacon frame may include TF cascade types forsome or all of the scheduled random access TFs. In some embodiments, theTF cascade type for a particular random access TF may indicate whether anext scheduled TF is a random access TF or a scheduled access TF. Thebeacon frame may also include transmission timings for some or all ofthe scheduled random access TFs to indicate when they are scheduled tobe transmitted by the AP 102.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a beacon frame in accordance with someembodiments. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited by theordering, format or presentation of the parameters and information asshown in FIG. 4. In addition, some embodiments of the beacon frame 400may or may not include some or all of the parameters and informationshown, and may also include additional parameters and information notshown in FIG. 4.

The beacon frame 400 may include a TFR parameter set information element(IE) 420, which will be described in more detail below. The beacon frame400 may also include any number (including zero) of other parameter setIEs 405. In some embodiments, some or all of such parameter set IEs 405may be defined or included in a standard such as 802.11, although notlimited as such.

The beacon frame 400 may also include a traffic indication map (TIM)element 410. In some embodiments, the TIM element 410 may indicate tothe STAs 103 whether or not there is downlink traffic to be sent fromthe AP 102 to the STAs 103 during the beacon interval. As an example,each of multiple STAs 103 may be allocated one bit of a bitmap includedin the TIM element 410, and the AP 102 may set the bit for a particularSTA 103 to a value of 0 or 1 to indicate whether downlink traffic isscheduled for that STA 103. Embodiments are not limited to a single bitper STA 103, however, and other suitable arrangements may be used insome cases.

The TFR parameter set IE 420 may include a TFR parameter set IEidentifier 425 which may include suitable control information for theTFR parameter set IE 420. The length field 426 may indicate a length ofthe TFR parameter set IE 420 (or a portion of it) in octets, bits, bytesor other unit, but is not limited as such. For instance, the lengthfield 426 may also indicate a number of parameters included in the TFRparameter set IE 420 or a number of random access TFs.

The TFR parameter set IE 420 may also include information related torandom access TFs (TFRs) scheduled for transmission during the beaconinterval. In some embodiments, the TFR parameter set IE 420 may includeone or parameters for each scheduled random access TF. As an example,for a first random access TF, the TFR with TF/TFR cascaded indicator 430may indicate whether a next scheduled TF is a random access TF or ascheduled access TF. The next scheduled TF may refer to a TF thatimmediately follows the first random access TF in a sequence of TFsscheduled for transmission during the beacon frame. Accordingly, the TFRwith TF/TFR cascaded indicator 430 may indicate whether or not the firstTFR is cascaded with another TFR. It should be noted that the TFR withTF/TFR cascaded indicator 430 may be an example of a TF cascade type.

In addition, the TFR target transmission time 435 may indicate a timing(starting time or other time) for the first random access TF. Anysuitable time measurement or frame index may be used for such purposes.As an example, a scheduled transmission time for the first random accessTF with respect to the start of the beacon interval or other referencepoint may be used. Such a value may be specified in terms of seconds,milliseconds or similar, or may be given in terms of a number of elapsedclock samples. It should be noted that the TFR target transmission time435 may be an example of a transmission timing.

As shown in the example in FIG. 4, the TFR parameter set IE 420 mayinclude similar parameters for additional scheduled random access TFsbeyond the first random access TF. For instance, the Nth random accessTF may be described by the TFR with TF/TFR cascaded indicator 440 andthe TFR target transmission time 445 may be included. It should be notedthat embodiments are not limited to the number of random access TFsshown in the example in FIG. 4.

The beacon frame 400 may also include any number (including zero) ofother parameters or information 450, which may or may not be related torandom access. For instance, control information for the beacon frame400 may be included.

At operation 310, a first random access TF may be received at the STA103. In some embodiments, the first random access TF may be receivedaccording to the transmission timing indicated for the first randomaccess TF in the beacon frame. In some embodiments, the first randomaccess TF may indicate a first allocation of channel resources forrandom access contention by STAs during a first uplink transmissionperiod of the beacon interval. The channel resources may includemultiple sub-channels, in some cases. Each of the sub-channels maycomprise a predetermined bandwidth and may further comprise multiplesub-carriers. As an example, a portion of the channel resources (or anumber of sub-channels) may be allocated by the AP 102 for the randomaccess. As another example, all of the sub-channels may be allocated forthe random access.

In addition, other random access TFs scheduled for transmission duringthe beacon interval may indicate allocations of channel resources forother uplink transmission periods of the beacon interval, which may ormay not be the same for different random access TFs. For instance, asecond random access TF may indicate second channel resources for asecond uplink transmission period, and the second channel resources mayor may not be the same as the first channel resources indicated in thefirst random access TF for the first uplink transmission period.

As previously described, the beacon frame may include information aboutmultiple random access TFs. In some cases, the STA 103 may receivemultiple random access TFs, and may receive at least some of themaccording to transmission timings indicated for those random access TFsin the beacon frame. In addition, the STA 103 may also receive one ormore scheduled access TFs in the beacon frame.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a random access scenario in accordancewith some embodiments. It should be noted that the scenario 500 mayserve to illustrate some or all of the concepts and techniques describedherein, but embodiments are not limited to the example scenario 500. Forinstance, embodiments are not limited to the number of STAs 103, TFs,and ACKs shown in FIG. 5. Embodiments are also not limited to thearrangement and ordering shown in FIG. 5.

The beacon frame 510 may be transmitted by the AP 102 for reception atthe STA 103, which are numbered as STA #1, STA #2, and STA #3 in theexample scenario 500. The AP 102 may also transmit any number of TFssuch as 520, 530, which may include random access TFs, scheduled accessTFs or a combination of both types of TFs. As an example, the firstscheduled TF 520 may be transmitted according to a transmission timing521 with respect to the beacon frame 510. As an example, when the firstTF 520 is a random access TF, the transmission timing 521 may beincluded in the beacon frame 510 as part of the TFR parameter set IE 420(FIG. 4) or other message or block. The transmission timing 521 may alsobe considered a “doze time” from the perspective of the STAs 103.Accordingly, the STAs 103 may enter a sleep mode or a mode of reducedoperation after decoding the beacon frame 510 and before the receptionof the first TF 520.

As previously described, the first TF 520 may indicate sub-channelallocations for random access for the STAs when it is a random accessTF. When the first TF 520 is a scheduled access TF, it may indicatesub-channel allocations for dedicated uplink transmissions by the STAs103. As an example, when the first TF 520 is a random access TF, thebeacon frame 510 may include a TF cascade type for the first TF 520 toindicate whether the second TF 530 is a random access TF or a scheduledaccess TF.

The first STA #1 may transmit an uplink transmission 522, which may be arandom access message, uplink traffic message or other message. Thethird STA #3 may transmit an uplink transmission 523. Thesetransmissions may occur after a short inter-frame space (SIFS) 525 haselapsed with respect to the first TF 520. The AP 102 may transmit an ACK524 after the SIFS 526 has elapsed, which may include acknowledgementsor other information related to receptions of the uplink transmissions522, 523. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the useof the SIFS 525, 526 as shown in FIG. 5, as any suitable value may beused for such a delay.

For ease of illustration, the first TF 520, the uplink transmissions522, 523, the ACK 524, and the SITS 525, 526 are demarcated by the box527. A similar box 537 is populated with similar elements 530-536 toindicate a second TF 530 used in the beacon interval. In some cases,additional TFs may also be included in a similar manner, as embodimentsare not limited to the example of two TFs in FIG. 5.

At operation 315, a random access frame may be transmitted by the STA103 during the first uplink transmission period according to the firstallocation of the channel resources. As an example, the random accessframe may be a buffer request frame, association request (AR) frame orprobe request (PR) frame or other management, control or action frame.However, any other suitable frame, block or message that may or may notbe part of a standard, such as 802.11, may be used. In some cases, theSTA 103 may determine an uplink transmission period (such as the firstone) in which to transmit random access frames based at least partly onan included TIM in the beacon frame and one or more TF cascade types.Examples of such will be described below. These examples are notlimiting, however, as a selection of a particular uplink transmissionperiod by the STA 103 may be performed using any suitable technique,including random selection of the scheduled uplink transmission periodsfor the random access.

At operation 320, downlink traffic may be received from the AP 102during a reception period indicated in a scheduled access TF. In someembodiments, the scheduled access TF may be the next TF after a randomaccess TF, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in thisrespect. As previously described, a TIM element may be included in thebeacon frame and may indicate that the STA 103 is scheduled to receivedownlink traffic from the AP 102 during the beacon interval.Accordingly, when the STA 103 determines that it has at least somedownlink traffic scheduled for the beacon interval, the STA 103 mayreceive one or more scheduled access TFs to determine timing, channelresources and other information to enable the reception of the downlinktraffic.

At operation 325, the STA 103 may refrain from reception of signalsduring one or more sleep periods in the beacon interval. As an example,a sleep period may occur between the scheduled access TF and a receptionperiod for the downlink traffic. In some embodiments, the STA 103 mayalso refrain from transmission of signals and other operations, and mayreduce its functionality and power usage during the sleep period.Accordingly, the STA 103 may operate in a reduced power state or batterysaving state or similar.

At operation 330, the STA 103 may transmit one or more uplink trafficmessages, data blocks, packets or uplink signals, which may or may notbe related to random access. The transmission may be performed duringone or more uplink transmission periods indicated by random access TFs,although embodiments are not limited in this respect. It should bepointed out that, although the uplink transmission periods may beindicated in random access TFs, the messages, data blocks, packets orsignals transmitted by the STA 103 during those periods need not berelated to random access. As an example, a first uplink transmissionperiod indicated by the first random access TF may be used. As anotherexample, a second uplink transmission period indicated by a secondrandom access TF may also be used. Although not limited as such, thesecond random access TF may immediately follow, or be cascaded with, thefirst random access TF. In addition, any suitable number of uplinktransmission periods may be used, including more than two.

Various techniques may be used for determination of how the uplinktransmission periods may be used for transmission of the uplink traffic.As an example, an uplink message may be divided such that a portion ofit is transmit end during each of multiple uplink transmission periods.As another example, the uplink message may be repeated during each ofmultiple uplink transmission periods, which may enable diversityreception at the AP 102.

In some cases, channel resources allocated for random access during themultiple uplink transmission periods may be different. In addition, theSTA 103 may utilize different portions of the allocated channelresources during different uplink transmission periods. As an example,uplink transmission may be performed by the STA 103 according to thefirst allocation of the channel resources during the first uplinktransmission period. The uplink transmission during the second uplinktransmission period may be performed according to a second allocation ofthe channel resources during the second uplink transmission period. As anon-limiting example, the second allocation of the channel resources maybe indicated by the next TF.

In some embodiments, a random access portion of the channel resourcesmay be indicated by a random access Association Identifier (AID). Thatis, a particular AID may be reserved for communication of the randomaccess portion to the STAs 103. For instance, a value of 0 for the AID(AID-0) may be reserved for this purpose. Information may be included inthe beacon frame along with AID-0, and the STAs 103 may use theinformation to identify which sub-channels are included in the randomaccess portion. It should be noted that the value of 0 is a nonlimitingexample, and other suitable values may be used.

At operation 335, the STA 103 may determine a first random access TFthat is followed immediately by a second random access TF in thesequence of scheduled TFs in the beacon frame. That is, the STA 103 mayidentify, based on the beacon frame, when a cascaded sequence of atleast two random access TFs is scheduled for transmission during thebeacon interval. In some embodiments, the determination may be based atleast partly on one or more TF cascade types included in the beaconframe. That is, the STA 103 may parse or analyze the beacon frame toidentify a random access TF for which an included TF cascade type is setto an appropriate value (0 or 1, for instance) to indicate that the nextscheduled TF is another random access TF.

As such, the STA 103 may be able to wake up for reception of multiplecascaded random access TFs and then may enter a sleep mode without theneed for reception of any other TFs. The determination of the cascadedsequence of random access TFs by analysis of the beacon frame maytherefore enable the STA 103 to increase an amount of sleep time duringthe beacon interval in comparison to techniques in which multiple TFsare received in sequence without such knowledge.

As an example, the STA 103 may operate as an Internet of Things (IoT)device or as a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device. Such a devicemay have limited battery power or may benefit from operation in whichbattery expenditure is reduced or limited. For instance, it may bebeneficial for the IoT or MTC device to wake up as infrequently aspossible during the beacon frame for reception of TFs and/ortransmission of data. An uplink data message sent by the IoT or MTCdevice may be used for communication of a block of data such as sensordata. The block may be a relatively small block of data, andtransmission of it during a small number of uplink transmission periodsmay be appropriate. The transmission of the uplink data blocks may beperformed when the TIM included in the beacon frame indicates that theSTA 103 is not scheduled to receive downlink traffic from the AP 102during the beacon interval.

At operation 340, the STA 103 may determine, based on TF cascade typesincluded in the beacon frame, a third random access TF that is followedimmediately by a scheduled access TF in the sequence of scheduled TFs inthe beacon frame. As a non-limiting example, the determination may beperformed when the TIM indicates that the STA 103 is scheduled toreceive downlink traffic from the AP 102 during the beacon interval. Inaddition, the STA 103 may transmit a random access message during athird uplink transmission period indicated by the third random access TFand may receive the downlink traffic during an uplink transmissionperiod indicated by the scheduled access TF. Although not limited assuch, these operations just described may be performed when the STA 103operates in a power saving mode or operates as a power saving STA 103 orsimilar.

It should be pointed out that operation according to the examples inwhich certain patterns of random access TFs and scheduled access TFs areidentified using the beacon frame may serve to control the random accessper random access TF. That is, random access attempts by the STAs 103during the beacon frame may be spread out over the available randomaccess TFs.

FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of another method of random accesscontention in accordance with some embodiments. As mentioned previouslyregarding the method 300, embodiments of the method 600 may includeadditional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to whatis illustrated in FIG. 6 and embodiments of the method 600 are notnecessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 6.In describing the method 600, reference may be made to FIGS. 1-5,although it is understood that the method 600 may be practiced with anyother suitable systems, interfaces and components. In addition,embodiments of the method 600 may refer to APs, STAs, eNBs 104, UEs 102,HEW APs, HEW STAs or other wireless or mobile devices. The method 600may also refer to an apparatus for an STA 103 and/or AP 102 or otherdevice described above.

It should be noted that the method 600 may be practiced at an AP 102,and may include exchanging of signals or messages with an STA 103.Similarly, the method 300 may be practiced at the STA 103, and mayinclude exchanging of signals or messages with the AP 102. In somecases, operations and techniques described as part of the method 300 maybe relevant to the method 600. In addition, embodiments may includeoperations performed at the AP 102 that are reciprocal or similar toother operations described herein performed at the STA 103. Forinstance, an operation of the method 600 may include transmission of aframe by the AP 102 while an operation of the method 300 may includereception of the same frame or similar frame by the STA 103.

In addition, previous discussion of various techniques and concepts maybe applicable to the method 600 in some cases, including the beaconframe, beacon interval, random access TFs, scheduled access TFs, andcascading of TFs. Other concepts previously described, such as thechannel resources, sub-channels, and sub-carriers may also be applicableto the method 600. In addition, the example scenario shown in FIG. 5 mayalso be applicable, in some cases.

At operation 605, the AP 102 may transmit a beacon frame that indicatesa sequence of trigger frames (TFs) scheduled for transmission by the AP102 during a beacon interval. In some embodiments, the sequence mayinclude one or more random access TFs and at least one scheduled accessTF. In some embodiments, the random access TFs may indicate allocationsof channel resources for random access contention during one or moreuplink transmission periods of the beacon interval. In some embodiments,the scheduled access TFs may indicate allocations of the channelresources for scheduled uplink transmissions during one or more uplinktransmission periods of the beacon interval. In some embodiments, atleast one of the scheduled access TFs may be included in the sequence ofTFs between the first random access TF and a second random access TFsubsequent to the first random access TF. In some embodiments, thechannel resources may comprise one or more sub-channels that comprise apredetermined bandwidth and further comprise multiple sub-carriers.

Previously described techniques and examples for the beacon frame may beused in some cases, although embodiments are not limited as such. Insome embodiments, the beacon frame may include one or more TF cascadetypes for the random access TFs to indicate whether next TF framesfollowing the random access TFs in the sequence are random access TFs orscheduled access TF. For instance, a TF cascade type for a particularrandom access TF may refer to whether a TF scheduled for transmissionimmediately after that particular random access TF is a random access TFor a scheduled access TF.

At operation 610, the AP 102 may receive, during a first uplinktransmission period indicated by a first random access TF in thesequence, a random access message from the STA 103. Previously describedtechniques and examples for the random access message may be used insome cases, although embodiments are not limited as such.

At operation 615, the AP 102 may transmit an acknowledgement (ACK)message that is based on the reception of the random access message. TheACK may include acknowledgement of one or more data blocks or messagestransmitted by the STA 103 during an uplink transmission period.Referring back to the example scenario 500 in FIG. 5, the ACK 524 may betransmitted in response to the uplink transmissions 522, 523.

In some embodiments, a cascade indication bit may indicate whether ornot a current random access TF is cascaded by another random access TF.In some embodiments, the cascade indication bit may be included in thecurrent random access TF. As an example, in the example scenario 500shown in FIG. 5, a cascade indication bit may be included in the firstTF 520 to indicate whether the first TF 520 is cascaded by anotherrandom access TF.

In some embodiments, when a next TF following the first random access TFin the sequence is a scheduled access TF, the ACK may include a cascadeindication bit that indicates that the first random access TF is notfollowed by a second random access TF. In some embodiments, when thenext TF following the first random access TF in the sequence is a randomaccess TF, the ACK may include the cascade indication to indicate thatthe first random access TF is not followed by a second random access TF.In some embodiments, when an ACK frame includes the cascade indicationbit, the following cascaded random access TF may be restricted to notinclude the cascade indication bit. In some embodiments, when an ACKframe does not include the cascade indication bit, the followingcascaded random access TF may include the cascade indication bit. Itshould be pointed out that the cascade indication bit in these cases(and others) may take values such as “0” and “1” to indicate that thereis or is not another random access TF scheduled after the current randomaccess TF.

An example of an apparatus for a user station (STA) is disclosed herein.The apparatus may comprise transceiver circuitry and hardware processingcircuitry. The hardware processing circuitry may configure thetransceiver circuitry to receive, from an access point (AP), a beaconframe for a beacon interval. The hardware processing circuitry mayfurther configure the transceiver circuitry to receive a first randomaccess Trigger Frame (TF) that indicates a first allocation of channelresources for random access contention by STAs during a first uplinktransmission period of the beacon interval. The beacon frame may includea transmission timing for the first random access TF and a first TFcascade type for the first random access TF. The first TF cascade typemay indicate whether a next TF is a random access TF or a scheduledaccess TF. In some examples, the STA may be a high-efficiency wirelesslocal area network (HEW) STA and the AP may be an HEW AP.

In some examples, the first random access TF may be received accordingto the transmission timing. In some examples, the hardware processingcircuitry may further configure the transceiver circuitry to transmit arandom access frame during the first uplink transmission periodaccording to the first allocation of the channel resources. In someexamples, the transmission of the random access frame may be performedwhen a traffic indication map (TIM) included in the beacon frameindicates that the STA is scheduled to receive downlink traffic from theAP during the beacon interval and when the first TF cascade typeindicates that the next TF is a scheduled access TF.

In some examples, the hardware processing circuitry may furtherconfigure the transceiver circuitry to receive the downlink traffic fromthe AP during a reception period indicated in the next TF. The hardwareprocessing circuitry may further configure the transceiver circuitry torefrain from reception of signals during a sleep period between the nextTF and the reception period for the downlink traffic. In some examples,the transmission of the random access frame may be performed when anindicator included in a TF indicates that the STA is scheduled toreceive downlink traffic from the AP during the beacon interval and thefirst TF cascade type indicates that the next TF is a scheduled accessTF.

In some examples, the hardware processing circuitry may furtherconfigure the transceiver circuitry to transmit, when the first TFcascade type indicates that the next TF is a random access TF, one ormore uplink data blocks during the first uplink transmission period andduring a second uplink transmission period indicated by the next TF. Insome examples, the transmission of the uplink data blocks may beperformed according to the first allocation of the channel resourcesduring the first uplink transmission period. The transmission of theuplink data blocks may be further performed according to a secondallocation of the channel resources during the second uplinktransmission period. The second allocation of the channel resources maybe indicated by the next TF.

In some examples, the transmission of the uplink data blocks may beperformed when a traffic indication map (TIM) included in the beaconframe indicates that the STA is not scheduled to receive downlinktraffic from the AP during the beacon interval. In some examples, thebeacon frame may further include a transmission timing for a secondrandom access TF and a second TF cascade type for the second randomaccess TF. In some examples, the beacon interval may include a scheduledaccess TF transmitted between the first random access TF and the secondrandom access TF.

In some examples, the channel resources may comprise one or moresub-channels that comprise a predetermined bandwidth and furthercomprise multiple sub-carriers. In some examples, the STA may furthercomprise one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry forthe reception of the beacon frame and the reception of the first randomaccess TF.

An example of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a userstation (STA) to perform operations for communication is also disclosedherein. The operations may configure the one or more processors toreceive a beacon frame that indicates a sequence of random accesstrigger frames (TIM) and scheduled access TFs to be transmitted by anaccess point (AP), the TFs indicating timings for one or more uplinktransmission periods. The operations may further configure the one ormore processors to determine, based on one or more TF cascade typesincluded in the beacon frame, a first random access TF that is followedimmediately by a second random access TF in the sequence. The operationsmay further configure the one or more processors to transmit a firstportion of an uplink traffic message during a first uplink transmissionperiod indicated by the first random access TF and transmit a secondportion of the uplink traffic message during a second uplinktransmission period indicated by the second random access TF.

In some examples, the determination of the first random access TF andthe transmissions of the first and second portions of the uplink trafficmessage may be performed when a traffic indication map (TIM) included inthe beacon frame indicates that the STA is not scheduled to receivedownlink traffic from the AP during the beacon interval. In someexamples, the operations may further configure the one or moreprocessors to, when the TIM indicates that the STA is scheduled toreceive downlink traffic from the AP during the beacon interval,determine, based on the TF cascade types, a third random access TF thatis followed immediately by a scheduled access TF in the sequence. Theoperations may further configure the one or more processors to, when theTIM indicates that the STA is scheduled to receive downlink traffic fromthe AP during the beacon interval, transmit a random access messageduring a third uplink transmission period indicated by the third randomaccess TF and receive the downlink traffic during an uplink transmissionperiod indicated by the scheduled access TF.

In some examples, the random access TF's may further indicateallocations of channel resources for random access contention by STAsduring one or more of the uplink transmission periods.

An example of a method of communication performed at a user station(STA) is also disclosed herein. The method may comprise receiving, froman access point (AP), a beacon frame for a beacon interval. The methodmay further comprise receiving a first random access Trigger Frame (TF)that indicates a first allocation of channel resources for random accesscontention by STAs during a first uplink transmission period of thebeacon interval. The beacon frame may include a transmission timing forthe first random access TF and a first TF cascade type for the firstrandom access TF. The first TF cascade type may indicate whether a nextTF is a random access TF or a scheduled access TF. In some examples, theSTA may be a high-efficiency wireless local area network (HEW) STA andthe AP may be an HEW AP.

An example of an apparatus for an access point (AP) is also disclosedherein. The apparatus may comprise transceiver circuitry and hardwareprocessing circuitry. The hardware processing circuitry may configurethe transceiver circuitry to transmit a beacon frame that indicates asequence of trigger frames (TFs) scheduled for transmission by the APduring a beacon interval. The sequence may include one or more randomaccess TFs and at least one scheduled access TF. The hardware processingcircuitry may further configure the transceiver circuitry to receive,during a first uplink transmission period indicated by a first randomaccess TF in the sequence, a random access message from a user station(STA). The beacon frame may include one or more TF cascade types for therandom access TFs to indicate whether next TF frames following therandom access TFs in the sequence are random access TFs or scheduledaccess TF.

In some examples, the random access TFs may indicate allocations ofchannel resources for random access contention during one or more uplinktransmission periods of the beacon interval. The scheduled access TFsmay indicate allocations of the channel resources for scheduled uplinktransmissions during one or more uplink transmission periods of thebeacon interval. In some examples, the channel resources may compriseone or more sub-channels that comprise a predetermined bandwidth andfurther comprise multiple sub-carriers. In some examples, at least oneof the scheduled access TFs may be included in the sequence of TFsbetween the first random access TF and a second random access TFsubsequent to the first random access TF.

In some examples, the hardware processing circuitry may furtherconfigure the transceiver circuitry to transmit an acknowledgement (ACK)message that is based on the reception of the random access message. Insome examples, when a next TF following the first random access TF inthe sequence is a scheduled access TF, the ACK may include a cascadeindication bit that indicates that the first random access TF is notfollowed by a second random access TF. In some examples, when a next TFfollowing the first random access TF in the sequence is a random accessTF, the ACK may include a cascade indication bit that indicates that thefirst random access TF is not followed by a second random access TF.

In some examples, the apparatus may further comprise one or moreantennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry for the transmission ofthe beacon frame and the reception of the random access message.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station,the apparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry coupled tothe memory, the processing circuitry configured to: decode a beaconframe or management frame from a HE access point (AP), the beacon frameor the management frame comprising an information element, theinformation element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame(TF) with random access allocations; enter a doze state until the starttime; decode the first TF, the first TF comprising a cascade indicationfield and an indication of uplink (UL) allocations, the UL allocationscomprising one or more random access allocations, wherein the one ormore random access allocations are indicated by values of associationidentifications (AIDs); determine whether the one or more random accessallocations are accessible to transmit a packet, wherein thedetermination is based on the values of the AIDs being zero to indicatea random access allocation; if the determination is the one or morerandom access allocations are accessible, select a random accessallocation of the one or more random access allocations, and configurethe HE station to transmit the packet in accordance with the selectedrandom access allocation, wherein the memory is configured to store thebeacon frame or the management frame.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: randomlyselect the random access allocation from the one or more random accessallocations.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: if the determination is the one ormore random access allocations are accessible and the value of thecascade indication field is 1, remain awake for a second TF with randomaccess allocations.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the informationelement further comprises one or more additional start times for TFswith random access allocations.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein theinformation element further comprises a length field indicating a lengthof the information element.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to: configure the HE stationto transmit the packet in accordance with one or both of: orthogonalfrequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user multiple-inputmultiple-output (MU-MIMO).
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thepacket is an uplink resource request, an association request, or a proberequest.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beacon frame furthercomprises a traffic indication map (TIM) that indicates whether the HEAP has downlink traffic for the HE station.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the selected random access allocation comprises an indication ofchannel resources for random access contention by stations during anuplink transmission period, and wherein the channel resources comprisesubcarriers for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). 10.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: if the determination is the one or more random accessallocations are not accessible, and the value of the cascade field is 0,enter the doze state immediately.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe HE station is configured to operate in a wireless local area network(WLAN).
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the HE station isconfigured to operate in accordance with Institute of Electronic andElectrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the apparatus further comprises: transceiver circuitry coupledto the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to thetransceiver circuitry.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processorsof a high-efficiency (HE) station, the instructions to configure the oneor more processors to: decode a beacon frame or management frame from aHE access point (AP), the beacon frame or the management framecomprising an information element, the information element comprising astart time for a first trigger frame (TF) with random accessallocations; enter a doze state until the start time; decode the firstTF, the first TF comprising a cascade indication field and an indicationof uplink (UL) allocations, the UL allocations comprising one or morerandom access allocations, wherein the one or more random accessallocations are indicated by values of association identifications(AIDs); determine whether the one or more random access allocations areaccessible to transmit a packet, wherein the determination is based onthe values of the AIDs being zero to indicate a random accessallocation; if the determination is the one or more random accessallocations are accessible, select a random access allocation of the oneor more random access allocations, and configure the HE station totransmit the packet in accordance with the selected random accessallocation, wherein the memory is configured to store the beacon frameor the management frame.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions further configurethe one or more processors to: randomly select the random accessallocation from the one or more random access allocations.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theinstructions further configure the one or more processors to: if thedetermination is the one or more random access allocations areaccessible and the value of the cascade indication field is 1, remainawake for a second TF with random access allocations.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theinformation element further comprises one or more additional start timesfor TFs with random access allocations.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the informationelement further comprises a length field indicating a length of theinformation element.
 19. A method performed by an apparatus of ahigh-efficiency (HE) station, the method comprising: decoding a beaconframe or management frame from a HE access point (AP), the beacon frameor the management frame comprising an information element, theinformation element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame(TF) with random access allocations; entering a doze state until thestart time; decoding the first TF, the first TF comprising a cascadeindication field and an indication of uplink (UL) allocations, the ULallocations comprising one or more random access allocations, whereinthe one or more random access allocations are indicated by values ofassociation identifications (AIDs); determining whether the one or morerandom access allocations are accessible to transmit a packet, whereinthe determination is based on the values of the AIDs being zero toindicate a random access allocation; and if the determination is the oneor more random access allocations are accessible, selecting a randomaccess allocation of the one or more random access allocations, andconfigure the HE station to transmit the packet in accordance with theselected random access allocation, wherein the memory is configured tostore the beacon frame or the management frame.
 20. The method of claim19, wherein the method further comprises: randomly selecting the randomaccess allocation from the one or more random access allocations.
 21. Anapparatus of an access point, the apparatus comprising: memory; andprocessing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitryconfigured to: encode a beacon frame or management frame, the beaconframe or the management frame comprising an information element, theinformation element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame(TF) with random access allocations; encode the first TF with randomaccess allocations, the first TF with random access allocationscomprising a cascade indication field and an indication of uplink (UL)allocations, the UL allocations comprising one or more random accessallocations, wherein the one or more random access allocation areindicated by values of association identifications (AIDs), and wherein avalue of an AID of the AIDs being zero indicates a random accessallocation; configure the access point to transmit the first TF withrandom access allocations at the start time; if the cascade indicationfield is encoded with a 1, encode a second TF with random accessallocations, the second TF with random access allocations comprising asecond cascade indication field and one or more second random accessallocations, and configure the access point to transmit the second TFwith random access allocations after a transmission period for the firstTF with random access allocations is completed; and if the cascadeindication field is encoded with a 0, refrain from encoding andconfiguring the access point to transmit a second TF with random accessallocations as a next frame to transmit, wherein the memory isconfigured to store the beacon frame and the management frame.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: if the cascade indication field is encoded with a 1,encode a second TF with random access allocations, the second TF withrandom access allocations comprising a second cascade indication fieldand one or more second random access allocations, configure the accesspoint to transmit the second TF with random access allocations after atransmission period for the first TF with random access allocations iscompleted, and decode uplink packets from one or more stations inaccordance with the random access allocations.
 23. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the random access allocations comprise indications ofchannel resources for random access contention by stations during anuplink transmission period, and wherein the channel resources comprisesubcarriers for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). 24.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the access point is configured tooperate in accordance with Institute of Electronic and ElectricalEngineers (IEEE) 802.11ax, and wherein the access point is ahigh-efficiency (HE) access point configured to operate in a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN).
 25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein theapparatus further comprises: transceiver circuitry coupled to theprocessing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to thetransceiver circuitry.